Thirteen-year-old Michael Lim won five straight and then drew former champion and fellow New Jerseyan Michael Goeller in the final round to clinch clear first at the U.S. Amateur East Championship held in Somerset, New Jersey, over the three-day Memorial Day weekend.

Goeller drew in round three with Chipkin (N.Y.). In the final round match-up on board 2 against Chipkin, Hutma (N.J.), whose position as Black at times seemed to teeter on the edge as his f7-square came under triple-attack, won by virtue of a passed pawn that grew too powerful on the seventh. But Hutma had lost to Lim in round four. Ding (N.J.) stumbled against Goeller in round five. Russell (Ct.), started poorly with only a half-point out of two but showed grit in reeling off four straight games during the last two days. Michael Yen, who entered with a rating of 1821 and qualified to play for the Under-13 spot, lost only to Ding. The top six in tie-break order:

Rutar won the Senior trophy. Jeffrey La Comb (N.Y., 4.0)) won the Under-2000 prize; Walter De Jong (N.Y., 4.0), the Under-1900. Maryia Oreshko (N.J., 4.0) took top under-16, and Alan Gu (N.J., 2.5) was best Under-13.

Maryia Oreshko

Even though a young teen, the new Amateur East champion navigated with a deft positional touch. Take his third-round game against third-seeded Vinko Rutar (Pa.), who finished with 4.0. Rutar, an experienced over-the-board warrior who's come very close to winning the title in passed years, rolled out a strategically tricky version of the English.

Organizer Kenneth Thomas moved this year's event to the Somerset-Bridgewater Hotel, just off I-287, to improve conditions for the players. The hotel, under new management and branding, provided excellent rooms, free wifi, and food services that were open late. There was even a Starbucks inside the lobby, just down the hall from the playing site.

This year's Amateur may be the last national event organized by "Captain" Thomas. Legendary for his service to chess on both the state and national level, he has directed more than 1,000 tournaments and organized quite a number of successful clubs. Thomas will continue to organize club and regional events. Next year's Amateur East will be in good hands, managed by his long-time assisting team of Aaron Kiedes and Noreen Davisson, two very experienced organizers in their own right.